Courageous Caitlin raises hundreds of pounds with charity skydive

Caitlin Carroll, of Conisbrough, marked her 21st birthday by taking on a summer solstice skydive which raised more than £900 for the Teenage Cancer Trust and CLIC Sargent.

The former Wath St Pius pupil — who donated all of her 21st birthday money to her fundraising pot — jumped out of the plane with her boyfriend Robbie Foulds (21), of Maltby, at Brigg airfield, near Scunthorpe. 

She said: “We both really enjoyed the skydive. 

“It’s hard to explain the feeling but it was definitely an adrenaline rush. Without a doubt we’d do it again. It was amazing.”

Caitlin said she had wanted to raise money for the two charities that helped save her life and knew the ideal challenge, adding: “Because I sometimes use a wheelchair now due to nerve damage, pain and fatigue I can’t do challenges like runs or bike rides — so a skydive seemed perfect!”

Caitlin was diagnosed with stage four ovarian germ cell cancer at 17. 

Even though she had four out of the five top symptoms of ovarian cancer, she had to keep going back to her doctor for 18 months before she was diagnosed after a chance visit to A&E.

“I was in my second year of college and I had been experiencing what felt like a constant migraine for nearly two years,” said Caitlin.

“I’d been to my GP many times, and I was even referred to a neurologist. “They told me everything was fine but they found that I had some vitamin deficiencies. 

“I took tablets for a few months, but my headaches got worse and worse.”

Despite her weight plummeting to five-a-half stone, her stomach had swollen so much she looked “pregnant”.

After her arm went numb while in a lesson at Thomas Rotherham College, she was taken to Rotherham’s A&E by her worried mum, fearing she had had a stroke.

She recalled: “By the time I was seen in A&E, my arm had gone back to normal, but my mum said, ‘Oh whilst we’re here, could you have a look at her belly?’”

A scan revealed she had a 23cm cancerous tumour on her ovaries.

The shocking news “took a while to register” as Caitlin’s family rallied round her.

She began her treatment at Rotherham Hospital in March 2016, where she was the youngest person on the ward by 20 years. 

After a week, she was moved onto a teenage cancer unit at Sheffield’s Weston Park Hospital, where she was supported by a specialist teenage and young adult nurse, funded by the Teenage Cancer Trust.

After four months of chemotherapy, Caitlin’s tumour had shrunk enough for her to be operated on and in August 2016 her right ovary was removed. 

“Now I have check-ups every few months,” she said. “I have a few after-effects of the chemo, but it’s better than still having cancer.”

Caitlin returned to college a month after the operation, which was hard because her friends had all gone on to university.

But she passed her exams in health and social care, religious studies and geography with flying colours and is now heading into her third year studying geography at Sheffield Hallam University.